Before I get to the main topic of this weeks' column I wanted to mention another book that I have
added to my collection. It is called "Hurst Equipped.More Than 50 Years of High Performance" and is
published by CarTech Inc. This company does a lot of specialty automotive books and I have most of
them that pertain to drag racing, but I have to say that they have outdone themselves with this
edition. It's 191 pages of history that will be of interest to any drag racing fan or any fan who
ever had or wished they had a Hurst shifter in their car. With tons of historic pictures, and most
of them in color, it traces the history of one of the iconic companies in the high performance
world. Having grown up with the evolution of the Hurst company and Hurst products I found the book
to be an amazing look back at how George Hurst turned his dreams into an empire. It also chronicles
the decline of the company and George's ultimate passing. I also enjoyed reading about the history
of the Hemi Under Glass and all of the Hurst specialty cars and there were a lot of them that I had
forgotten. In addition to showing the cars and the products that made the company famous it also
talks about the people, in front of and behind the scenes, who made Hurst synonymous with high
performance and drag racing. The book can be found at amazon.com or at the company's own website, www.cartechbooks.com. Believe me it is a
great addition to any drag racing fan's library..By the way I found out about the book in my latest
copy of Hemmings Muscle Machines magazine, an issue that also includes a great look at some obscure
Pro Stock cars in an article by Dave Kommel who provides a lot of the pictures for my stories here
on www.DragRaceCentral.com. Nice going, Dave.

Now for some of the real "Nice Going" stories as we begin the year. Actually I should say as we end
the year since some of these racers were recently recognized for their achievements in the 2012
drag racing season. NHRA's seven geographic regions hold their annual award's banquets to honor the
champions in all of the different series that are contested across the country. Obviously any Lucas
Oil World Champs are honored as are all of the division champions. At the event that I hosted, the
Division 1 banquet, Alan Kenny was honored for his Lucas Oil Super Comp title while Rich McPhillips
and Todd Veney grabbed top honors in the alky classes. With the new regional format in 2012 there
weren't seven division champs, only regional ones in the two top categories on the Lucas Oil
circuit, but since both Rich and Todd claimed Division 1 that's where they picked up their
hardware. Since everyone knows who won what in the previous year there are not a lot of surprises
at the banquet, but there are some including those that are voted on by the racers themselves.
Among them were Phil Szukpa and Frank Aragona Sr. being named the "Wrench (or Wrenches) of the
Year," Vinny DiMino getting the "ET Driver of the Year" and Lincoln Morehead being named the
overall "Driver of the Year." PC Richard & Son which does a great job in supporting the racers and
racing in D-1 walked off with the "Best Supporting Sponsor" and Atco Raceway was named the "Drag
Strip of the Year." One of the most prestigious honors, the "Northeast Division Person of the Year"
went to Claire Laterza for her tireless work on behalf of the racers in the division. Nice going,
Claire. Oh yeah, for the umpteenth time Pete DeSalvo was honored as the National DRAGSTER
"Contributor of the Year" for his work on behalf of ESTA Safety Park. Pete has won more honors than
Frank Manzo in the division and that's saying something.

In Division 3 they had their annual gala and it is always one of the top social events of the year.
One of the highlights of the evening was Division Director Jay Hullinger's salute to the late
"Broadway Bob" Metzler. The flamboyant promoter passed away in 2012 and Jay honored him by coming
out in traditional "Broadway Bob" garb, that is, a wild airbrushed t-shirt and sunglasses that only
"Broadway" would wear in public. Oh yeah, the pants were special, too. In fact, if you looked at
Jay and then saw a picture of Bob you would think they there were separated at birth. All in all it
was a nice tribute and a great way to start the evening. After that the awards were handed out to
all of the division champions and a lot of others for their accomplishments in 2012. Mickey White
picked up the award for the folks at Lyons Raceway Park when they were named the Summit Racing
Series "Track of the Year" and Rob Moser got the honors as the Division 3 "Person of the Year."
With so many great racers in the division selecting the best had to be a tough process, but in the
end Bill Reichert was named "Pro Sportsman Driver of the Year" and James Monroe, who had a great
year in his Top Dragster, picked up the hardware for "Sportsman Driver of the Year." They were
joined by Ricky Shipp the "Super Eliminator Driver of the Year" and Jeremy York the "ET Driver of
the Year." The crew members weren't left out, either, as Randy Dreher and Jeff Taylor were honored
as the "Pro Sportsman Mechanic" and the "Sportsman Mechanic" of the year respectively. A special
award went to my friend, Dennis Winegar, for the twenty-five years he has put in as head of the
NHRA Track Announcer's Guild. It's a thankless job so it was great to see Dennis honored for his
years of dedication towards improving the quality of announcing, not only on the national level but
at the local tracks around the country. Nice going, Dennis.

Division 5 also had a gala affair with several national champions among those who were honored.
Bruno Massel won his second Lucas Oil Championship in Competition Eliminator and Tom Klemme grabbed
the national championship in the Summit Racing ET Series on his motorcycle. Tom is putting together
a pretty impressive collection of hardware since this was his third Summit Series national title.
Tom was also named the Summit Racing Series "ET Driver of the Year" and rightfully so. In keeping
with the motorcycle theme Mike Voss was given the Division 5 "Person of the Year" award for his
years of dedication to the motorcycles in the area. In the special awards category Phil Unruh was
named the Lucas Oil "Sportsman Driver of the Year" while Randy Meyer, one of the real veterans in
D-5 picked up the same honor in the "Pro Sportsman" category. Justin Jacobson picked up top honors
as the "Jerry Haas Pro Sportsman Mechanic of the Year" and Brad VanLant joined him on stage as the
"MADCAP Engines Sportsman Mechanic of the Year" for the fine job he did with his 1971 Duster.
Rounding out the special awards were Chris Brown who was named the "Lucas Oil Super Class Driver of
the Year" and Michael Brand who was honored as the "Aeromotive Rookie of the Year," and that's what
a win at the Mopar Mile High Nationals can do for your career.

Norm Fryer and Ed Egan

Two weeks ago I mentioned the passing of Ken Montgomery and today I am sad to mention another great
who has passed. Norm Fryer, who drove the famous "007" Chevrolet back in the late 1960's and 1970's
passed away earlier this week at the age of 74. Norm was one of the first real superstars of East
Coast racing and was a familiar figure in the winner's circle at Atco, Englishtown and Cecil County
as well as other drag strips along the East Coast. With a 427 cubic inch engine and a four-speed
transmission there was a lot to like about the Chevy Biscayne and with a great smile and a
wonderful personality there was a lot to like about Norm. When match racing was big tracks used to
book Norm in to take on some of the top Ford and Chrysler cars of the time, and more often than not
he came out the winner, and his races with Rich Morley's Ford were a lot of fun to watch. When he
travelled to the national events he was one of the top Chevrolet cars in the country and everyone
at Atco took a lot of pride in seeing him win at the big races. He competed in a variety of classes
in Stock, Super Stock and Competition Eliminator and he won in them all, plus he set the national
record several times and he did that in a couple of different classes too. Norm was one of the
greats and he will be missed.